GREEN BELT: The Dragon (Ssu Chi)

Element: Heaven, Cloud, Mountain

From high atop the Green mountain the Dragon observes the flux of fiery day and purple night as they are reflected in the temple pool of blue water. Green is the color of a spirited and vibrant life force. No temperate emotion or behavior can be part of such an emotionally charged being. Everything is done with an almost exaggerated commitment. In combat the Dragon rushes down his green mountain in a fit of barely controlled rage.

Image

A coiling Green Dragon descending from his Mountain in a controlled rage. The Dragon is the fourth animal in our system and represents the beginnings of an intermediate level of awareness and competency. The three previous animal styles (Tiger, Crane, and Leopard) are all modeled from real animals; while the mystical Dragon represents a spiritual rather than physical emphasis. Such an emphasis is possible only after the physical has been established.

Stance

A twisted stance with a trailing hidden-foot. Claw hands, rear above head, lead hand about a foot in front of midsection. Both claw hands tend to point palm to the front. Weight distribution is about 80/20 with the 20% being on the trailing hidden-foot.

Commentary

The Dragon is known by its obvious fury, flexibility, and strength. Anyone watching a Dragon stylist perform cannot fail to pick up the intense emotion expression of the Dragon. The yell of the spirit, Ki-Ai, which accompanies a forcefully completed strike is most authentically voiced at this level. Twisting and sweeping legs and body movements are characteristic of the Dragon, no part is static; everything is continuously coiling and uncoiling in broad whole-body movement. The Dragon's long movements, twisted stances, and whole-body principle of movement account for his power. Long movements allow the Dragon to take advantage of the body's maximum leverage; working at full extension allows for maximum impact momentum as well as providing the longest lever arm movement. Much of the Dragon's tangible power and technique stem from its adherence to a Point-and-Circle fighting style.

As with the Crane, the Dragon stylist perceives both his opponent and himself as being the central point of a dynamic sphere of potential influence. The reach of one's hands and feet in all three dimensions roughly describe the periphery of this personal sphere; twisting at the waist allows for extension to the sides and rear. When one moves, one's personal sphere is carried and is always centered at one's physical balance point as well as a mental and spiritual focal point, the T'an Tien (The Elixir Field). The personal sphere is a fluid structure which remains spherical only at rest. The slightest movement deforms and extends the sphere in the direction of movement and collapses it in all other directions. It is as if this sphere must contain a constant volume and a positive deformation in one direction necessitates a complementary negative deformation in the others.

The Crane took advantage of this aspect of Point-and-Circle combat theory when it waited for and then evaded an attack only to strike at the collapsed side of the attacker's dynamic sphere. The Dragon augments this by taking advantage of an offensive aspect of this Point-and-Circle theory, namely that of the energy stored in twisted stances being released in a whipping circular motion. Allowing hands and feet to be led by the untwisting or uncoiling of the hips and shoulders in rag doll fashion adds a massive amount of impact momentum to strikes. Even to the uninitiated, the commitment of the whole body is obvious in the movements of the Dragon. Maximum speed, leverage, and impact is achieved at the edges of one's dynamic; and it is the Dragon's crushing offensive object to place his opponent's center at this edge and subject him to a continuous and circling series of fully extended strikes.

The Dragon continually circles his opponent's perimeter to unbalance and force opening; such circling is never passive, the Dragon fighter attacks continuously and furiously. In addition to gaining the Dragon leverage, speed, and power, uncoiling from a twisted stance also provides the opportunity for a number of hidden techniques. Trailing hands and feet are literally hidden from an opponent, and, in the act of untwisting, those hands and feet suddenly become all too apparent. The Dragon also utilizes probing feints to disguise his real intentions; even a skilled opponent may be caused to have misleading preconceptions and expectation which force him to improperly anticipate the actual attack. Testing, probing, and feinting can also be the precursor of what comes to be another sort of hidden technique. The last and most obvious facet of the Dragon's tangible character is his fury. A Dragon pressures his opponent, as did the Tiger, and again like the Tiger his fury makes him blind to the odds. However, the key distinction between the fury of the Tiger and Dragon is that the Dragon's rage is subtly controlled. Just how this can be so carries us over into the intangible components of the Dragon.

The Ki-Ai, or yell of the spirit, provides some insight as to how the Dragon unites thought and emotion. This yell forces the practitioner to vocally emphasize a movement at the proper time. Such timing requires that the mind be with the body if the practitioner to vocally emphasize a movement at the proper time. Such timing requires that the mind be with the body if the emphasis is to be both appropriate and effective. The Ki-Ai not only has the advantage of forcing the mind and the body to be mutually attentive, but has a straightforward physical rationale as well. This yell is best formed from short exclamations ending in a "TS" sound; generally, the sound "IGHTS" ('lights' minus the 'l') is the recommended sound to yell. The "TS" ending tends to readily tighten the diaphragm and generally cause the body's musculature to lock at the focus of an impact, thus strengthening the strike. The strike is augmented because there is no room for absorption of the strike's power when the body is so locked. And, defensively, the Ki-Ai armors the stylist by tightening the muscles and thereby diminishing the potential damage done by a received strike.

The successful Dragon stylist must be able to imagine that all thought and movement arise from his T'an Tien. The more the stylist is able to imagine his mind to be at this center, the better the Dragon. The Dragon is a creature of the mind, and the more powerful the ability to imagine, to reshape the world in his own terms, the more powerful the Dragon. The previous three animals have attempted to secure a mind/body harmonization by stressing the physical aspects, the Dragon emphasizes the mental and spiritual. So, in order to fully understand the Dragon it is important to see that the Dragon is not only a creature of an imagined mythology but is a maker of myth. The Dragon perceives his world in an exaggerated manner, as if seeing everything from a high mountain aerie. Everything is imbued with brighter color, sharper contrast, stronger tastes, and headier odors. For the Dragon, even the smallest event assumes the greatest impost, every act is seen as in on a grand scale, every inconvenience becomes an adventure, a quest. The Dragon's power of imagination cast his world in heroic proportions where every course of affairs is a saga. He is more than flesh and blood, he is spirit. Unleashed emotions energize his actions. Imagination and emotion unite in a single coordinated expression of a whole mind/body commitment.

The Dragon does what he is doing while he is doing it. His emotional fury is simply another way of looking at his supercharged imagination. the Dragon fights with a controlled rage because there is no longer a distinction between thought and emotion, the two are inextricably interwoven. Obviously, this heightened level of thought and activity cannot be continuously maintained. Only one thing can keep the Dragon from consuming himself, the ability to both physically and mentally detach oneself from this super-charged domain. Physical exhaustion and collapse following periods of furious action is part of the Dragon's Do What You Are Doing While You Are Doing It philosophy which extends to all areas of his life. When you are hungry, eat. When you are tired, sleep. For mind and body to harmonize, you must mentally and physically commit to each and every activity. You cannot worry about what's for lunch or your job and still perform your Dragon form. Mind and body must be co-present with each and every activity. The Dragon is ever lost in the moment. Such a physical detachment may appear to be impractical and inappropriate in a world regulated by the clocks and schedules of others.

But, the Dragon is the ruler of his world, perhaps even a soloist. His world is literally taken to be His world, a world whose very hierarchy and constitution is of his making. Everything perceived by the Dragon is as it is only by virtue of his perceiving it as such. The apparent character of any object in the Dragon's environment may be variously perceived: a stick may be alternately constituted as fuel for fire, a weapon, or a toy for the dog; its reality is dependent upon how it is perceived. The Dragon creates and is responsible for the world in which he lives. The Dragon is a phenomenalist; he takes the expressions of his ego to be the furniture of the world. This is both his virtue and his curse. The Dragon takes himself to be the ultimate center of the cosmic sphere; when he dies the world dies with him. His training and technical expertise allow him to take control and direct the course of his situation. He no longer distinguishes Self from Other, but all is now taken to be a feature of his own ego.

The Dragon doesn't so much fight with an opponent as he choreographs a dance; he contests with himself alone. Mastery in combat and success in the world are achieved at the potential expense of full enlightenment. The Dragon's intermediate stage of myopic awareness coupled with its corresponding non-mechanical technical mastery of Kenpo skills at once comprises a major step forward and a major obstacle to further progress. The ego has reached its maximum size, encompassing the whole world. If this balloon is ever to burst and true equanimity be realized, some absolutely novel stimulus is required. The fangs of the snake seek to rupture this balloon and again place the Kenpo student on this evolutionary path.